Alonso betting on a better Sunday in the U.S.

Fernando Alonso has been running on hope the entire season so far and Saturday at the United States Grand Prix was no different.

The Ferrari driver qualified a disappointing ninth as he struggled on his tyres, never managing to put together the best lap while championship rival and leader Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position.

“We knew it would be a complicated weekend but clearly we were too slow and we will start from too far back,” Alonso said.

“Having said that, the accounts are always done at the end of the race: also in Abu Dhabi we were slower than our main rivals and then we got back three points in the classification,” he pointed out. “Our aim remains unchanged and it’s still possible: on Sunday all sorts of things can happen.”

Alonso was also out-qualified by his teammate Felipe Massa for only the second time this season with the Brazilian grabbing ninth place. The Ferrari pair will however gain a place each owing to the five-place grid penalty for Romain Grosjean.